Articles tagged with: cinnamon

‘Life is full of surprises. Just say ‘never’ and you’ll see.’ I did say ‘never’ to this Samsung Notebook after posting my entry for a recipe contest by Del Monte. And today when I open the parcel marked with ‘Winner – 1st Prize’ I understand that it takes more than just magic to make any dream a reality.These are the moments when all those unseen tiny efforts you put in to keep your passion alive seems worthwhile. Thanks Del Monte and IndiBlogger for making it happen! The winning recipe a No-Bake Chocolate Brownie is an easy treat you can make well ahead of time during festive season.

Some news travel faster than lightening. I found myself standing near my oven, baking goodies for friends way before the feeling of winning this pretty Notebook could sink in

My knowledge about Middle Eastern cuisine is very limited, its either a creamy Hummus, spicy Kebabs, handy falafel sandwich or a luscious Baklava. I always think that there is not much scope for a vegetarian to venture into the same. But the past couple of years of food blogging changed my perspective of food and I now enjoy cooking & eating out of my comfort zone.

Sometime in July 2012 when a dear food blogger friend Faith from Edible Mosaic mailed me that she is in the process of publishing her cook book and asked me if I would be interested to review her book. I was excited for her new venture and felt honored to be a part of her world of dreams. A wonderful friend who was the very first AFBLHS guest on Lite Bite and is a great support from the my early days of blogging.

‘Passion surprises. One doesn’t search it. It can happen to you tomorrow.’ ~Adjani. Today is that tomorrow for me. Sunday morning turned delightful with a mail, congratulating for winning a food photography contest on an online site of a National Daily ‘The Hindu’! And then the happy feet dance begins with baking loads of cinnamon rolls to celebrate the same with family & friends.

The news is a pleasant surprise, more so when I am just beginning to climb, trying to learn the intricacies of food photography & food styling while still standing on the very first step.

“Try the dual flavor vanilla & chocolate cereal or this new variety of cereal in the shape of Planet & stars…and this one….” Phew..shopping for children’ food could be so distracting than compelling due to endless choices in the same. These myriad choices do make life easy for busy moms with almost no cooking, quick & fuss free breakfast options in the market. But in the bargain I feel we loose on the natural and healthier foods and food products which were available a few years back.

Cereal was certainly not our bowl of breakfast in the growing years during late 60s and early 70’s. And then when plain cornflakes was first introduced in India it became a fashion statement and was welcomed with open hearts in many homes.

A slice of rich & dark Brownie is a delight for any chocolate lover, be it a gooey, chewy, fudgy or cakey brownie you just cannot stop with one. I like sticky and gooey brownies with loads of nuts in it, more better if it has some fruit or veggie hidden in it. Brownie is probably the easiest to make as against baking a cake, bread or any other goody. No waiting time needed for that intimidating yeast to work and flexing muscles for kneading the elastic dough, just mix it and bake it and you are in for a sinful treat. The treat is to celebrate Lite Bite being featured on Yummly today.

A lot has been going around with school working in full swing for children and the AFBHLS series on Lite Bite. My drafts which are already brimming with recipes and pictures is what I count on when there is less time to bake. Cookies are the most easiest of goodies which could be baked with very few ingredients in a shortest possible time.

I baked these Peanut butter wholewheat cookies at my mom’s place on her demand, to impress her neighbors who were eager to meet her food blogger daughter! She watched me baking these cookies and called her friends for evening tea. I could not get chocolate chips there and replaced the same with a handy Fruit & Nut Vochelle chocolate bar. And needless to say these peanut butter cookies made me a star of her colony

I like to add plenty of fresh fruits in my baking which could be very intimidating at times, as the extra juices from the fruits could easily ruin the texture of the baked goodies. And if it is a cookie in baking quest it becomes all the more difficult to get a perfect crisp and crumbly finish with fresh fruits in it. Muffin Top cookies is the perfect answer to it! A cross between a muffin and a cookie these baked goodies are soft & chewy due to high liquid content of fruit mix in them.

The unexpected guests who were allergic to cream, condensed milk & eggs, made me bake these mini pears pie, and I am delighted I did the same! Else dessert is normally a frosted cake or fresh fruits with cream. And this time I thought of making a pie with pears instead of the ubiquitous Apples and bake them in individual mini tarts. Quite easy to assemble, these Mini Pears Pie also give more crust to bite upon than the single crust pies.

The uneven look of the pie crust is due to the hard dough which almost crumbled when I lined the moulds. But then the result is a very delightful pie with a crisp base and a soft filling of red pear. Cinnamon and palm sugar combo give the extra flavors and healthy touch to this delicious pie .

Baking is a great way to enjoy certain food ingredients which otherwise never make to our dinning table too often. Most of the days the meal is either veggies with lentils & chapattis or rice recipes with accompaniments. Some of these wonder foods hardly get included into my menu, unless I shun my laziness and make or bake something out of them Ragi or finger millet is one such food ingredients, I love to bring it to my table often. And this time this humble grain Ragi got transformed into these crisp and scrumptious cookies with an extra dose of chocolate chips. These cookies added as a quick dessert last night with a generous spoon of Nutella spread over them.

As soon as I saw the Daring Baker’ challenge I knew that I may not be able to take it this time, reason being the meringue which is the main ingredient for baking this lovely cake. Since I do not use eggs in my baking and meringue calls for the same I left the challenge feeling sad not being able to complete it. But after seeing the lovely posts on the DB with these baked goodies I could not resist myself and baked the same cake using chocolate and cream mix.